POSTED

Hello!

We start with the actual story this time. Please keep in mind that this story is not linear. If you are confused by this setting or something, there are basically three major points of the timeline that will have a lot of importance:

·20XX - Years ago : before Frisk falls into the Underground. The monsters aren't really all that hopeful and we will get to see the kill or be killed way taking shape!

·19XX - Years ago : is an Underground that hasn't been affected by Gaster's disappearance through time and space. Yet. It's fairly Undertale like, but it will be important in the long run nonetheless.

·20XX - Now : Frisk has fallen! Prepare yourself for a wild ride, because this human child is determined to make it out alive of the Underground.

And that's it, I guess. Enjoy!

THE JUDGE AND THE DAMNED

20XX - Years ago

There was a time when this world was not violent. A time when the monster were filled with hope, love and compassion. Such times are lost on the present days, but there are still a few monsters around that remember them with fondness instead of with bitter longing.

Sans was not one of those monsters.

It wasn't that he was not happy then. Don't get him wrong, he was. But the painful memories are too much and he has a fog on his mind that doesn't let him remember correctly. He knows that he was under Grillby's wing, for a time. And yet, he can also think of a time when he was alone with his little brother in this hellhole. It didn't make sense.

It was like he had two different sets of memories and people only remember one or the other. Never both like him.

Nobody had noticed something wrong yet, even after all the time that had passed since certain events. It was like there is something preventing them from figuring all of this out. There were things that seemed out of place, but the monsters just kept going like they didn't even realize it. Like nothing was wrong at all.

But it was.

Welp, no need to think so hard about something that wasn't going to get solved anytime soon. He wondered, though, about what he was forgetting. Because he was, he knew he was. Grillby remembered him, at least. The one timeline that Sans liked out of the two his life is torn in. The one where he was cared for and got help for Papyrus, where he could still dream and hope for a better future for monsterkind. A world where he still had his little brother with him, where said little brother trusted him. A world where it wasn't kill or be killed.

He may as well go pay him a visit.

Good old days. How he missed when Papyrus was still little, when the Underground was still friendly and full of hope, when Gaster-

(FZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! ERROR! ERROR! 404 NOT FOUND!)

Static...

Sans collapsed in his station.

19XX - Years ago

Smiling, Sans was holding his little brother's hand. He was happy, mostly. Even if he had to go to the lab fairly early on the day, Sans was confident his little brother would be able to make himself entertained with the puzzles the bunny lady on the inn had laying around.

Monsters didn't seem to travel all that much nowadays and, even if they did, the Underground was little enough for the monsters to come and go home almost in the same day. Snowdin was pretty quite anyway, with the same town folk and the same routines. It had a charming aura that he couldn't explain, but it felt safe.

This, however, meant that there was not that much business for the bunny to take profit of, having to rely on her family to push her to meet the end of the month. It was kind of sad, but because of this, she remodeled the lower floor to serve as a kindergarten of sorts.

It worked somehow, so this gave him the perfect excuse to let his baby brother as far of the labs reach as possible. Sans didn't really like how Papyrus would stare into the lava, tilting his body forward to take a closer look. The lab wasn't a safe place, anyway. Always bustling with activity and busy monsters that didn't seem to notice anything else going out outside of their own little worlds.

He himself was just old enough to be allowed to even work there, just helping out in the calculous and errands. Basically? An over-glorified errand boy. But he got to see the experiments up close, so there was that. Everything was so cool.

He would have asked Grillby to watch Papyrus today as usual, but the fire elemental was always running ragged around them just taking care of the two babybones out of his work hours, let alone in them. Grillby didn't really mind all that much. Their guardian was just that "cool" for being made out of fire and magma.

Those past days had been pretty difficult for everyone, though. Especially for the monsters in higher positions like the Royal family or the Royal Scientist. Gaster was a very busy man indeed, but Sans didn't mind staying with Grillby instead of with him, it worked out for everyone better this way.

And he had always been low key afraid of Gaster bringing home his work. Poor Papyrus wouldn't be able to get what was going on.

Grillby would protect them. The red flames made him were warm and always welcoming. A nice change.

Letting Papyrus go to the renovated inn, Sans started walking away. Waving to some monsters that greeted him on his way, he decided to make a stop at Grillby's first before leaving to Hotland.

The bar was filled with the canine unit as usual. It seemed like it was a family tradition to become a Royal Guard at this point. Good old Fenrir and the kind Furray were his favorites to hang with, even if they were adults and Sans only saw them in passing in the forest or Hotland. Their son Doggo was okay, he guessed, but he couldn't really do all that much with how bad his vision was. It was really funny to mess with him a little, though.

They were seated in the big table at the middle of the left aisle. Approaching quietly, Greater Dog seemed to notice him, but his a quick gesture to keep quiet and a meaningful look to his oblivious cousin Doggo seemed to buy his silence.

Next to Doggo, Sans clapped.

"Who's there? I heard something!"

Staying as still as possible, both Greater and Sans tried to contain their giggles. The adults not paying them any mind.

Sans clapped again.

"I know someone is there! Whoever you are, stop it!"

Nothing again. Poor Doggo looked like his head was going to fall off with how much he looked from side to side. He was alert, so Sans couldn't move his hands to clap this time without getting caught. He was saved by an unexpected ally!

Greater Dog clapped.

They both were very still. Soon enough, Doggo started freaking out. Hilarious, dude. Hilarious. He was barking like mad! His parents were looking at him weirdly and Greater Dog was just sitting there with a smug look on his face.

It was too much for Sans. He started laughing like there was no tomorrow. When Doggo calmed down a bit, he seemed to notice Sans, though.

"Ugh, Sans! Not again! That was the third time this week" Doggo whined.

This only made Sans laugh harder.

"Stop it! Sans, is not that funny. And you keep playing the same trick over and over again!"

"Oh, yeah?" Sans straightened, fixing his clothes a bit - And you keep falling for it over and over again!

This time, Greater Dog's smug face seemed to intensify.

"Oh my god, Greater. You're supposed to be on my side!" Only a bark seemed to returned his words. "Yeah, you keep laughing, we'll see who laughs last…"

Leaving a grumpy Doggo and a very pleased with himself Greater Dog, Sans turned to go talk to Grillby. Only to be met with said monster's disappointed face™.

"Oh, c'mon Grillbz, that was hilarious."

"…"

Sighing, Sans tried to calm himself and act more maturely for the peace of mind of his guardian. He was going to the labs, after all. It wasn't that he couldn't have fun there or anything, but everyone was very serious and asked the same in return of everyone who went to work even remotely close the experiments. Gaster the first of them all, always so polite and calm it actually seemed to bother some monsters at times.

"You have anything I need to take over to the Doc?"

Letting the topic go, Grillby grabed a burger and some fries in a box. They came with a side packet of mustard and other one of ketchup. No mayonnaise though. Shame, Sans was in the mood of some bland stuff. Guess ketchup would have to do for now.

"Wow, burgers and fries? What's the occasion, big guy?" Grillby took a finger to the height of were his mouth was supposed to be if, you know, he had one. Blowing some smoke from his magma core, the message was clear. It was a secret- Okay? Just remember to pick up Papyrus later from the inn, today is gonna be a long day at the labs. Looks like the King is going to visit soon to see their progress or something.

Nodding, Grillby went back to his initial position at the bar. Sans headed out to the chilly air once again, this time without making any stops on the way.

Hotland it is.

Grillby was worried again.

Not because of anything in particular, he was this way. Sans called him a helicopter parent sometimes and maybe there was a bit of truth in that statement after all. That boy did so much for his little brother that it was heartwarming. Still, the labs?

For being a flame monster, Grillby didn't like Hotland all that much. The stirring lava all around the place only made him dizzy, even if his little cousin Fuku seemed to love it.

His power had always been too wild to keep on check, sadly. That was part of what drove him to Snowdin in the first place. His bar was made out of wood like most buildings in town, sure, but he always made sure the walls were a bit humid so it wouldn't catch on fire. If he ever lost control of his power, The Angerl forbid it, he had the fire scape… Literally. Sans' pranks were getting out of hand.

Which drove him to his worries yet again. Sans was a good kid, he really was. But that was kind of the problem.

Not him being good or nice, no. The kid part. Sans had left the three stripes some time ago now, placing him on the teen category. Not a child anymore while technically still being called that. He was so not looking forward to that little terror's puberty and all that came with it. Being one of the last skeleton monsters Underground didn't help matters. The only ones that had a way to help him were Gerson or Gaster.

There was no way he was letting Sans' wild little mind with Gerson.

Gaster wasn't any better, even if it seemed like the most responsible monster out there. What a joke. Everyone had to be a little loose up in the head to have that kind of view and job. But at least Sans wouldn't go and try to fight everything that moves and some more that doesn't.

Probably.

Still, coming of age was going to be difficult for Sans. Without any other skeleton to be there constantly to help him out, it was going to be trying for everyone. Skeletons always possessed weird powers. Having some structure in common with humans and having more concentrated magic to be able to move around, their magic worked in powerful but unexpected ways.

And Grillby had already started to see the signs of it manifesting. Glasses moving in their shelves, the tables trying to lift themselves up into the air so much that Grillby had to fuse said tables to the floor… Those were obviously the first signs of blue attacks, even if they were the weirder ones he had ever seen or heard of. It should increase gravity, not change it in the other direction.

This was expected. This was normal, Grillby told himself. Everything would be okay in the end.

Even if it wouldn't. It would only get weirder and weirder the longer this was going on until he unlocked that special and unique magic that would define Sans' role in life.

Looking at his bar filled with patrons…

Grillby was filled with a bad feeling.

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END

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Kidding. It's just the end of the first chapter. This arc is not going to be all that long, though.

Headcanon - In this universe, the more stripes you have, the longer you're going to be a child. 1 stripe means you are almost an adult and you're developing your special attack (16-19 years). 2 stripes means you are developing your special ability like how Undyne can trap you in her fight (13-15 years). 3 stripes mean you're almost a teen and you have your basic magic attacks (11-12 years). More than that all have the same meaning, which is the one of a child without any actual magic ability yet.

Tell me what you think, even if it seems silly. Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!

NellB out!